The Problem of Organ Theft – 8/7/12

“The shortage of organs is virtually a universal problem. In some countries, the development of a deceased organ donation programme is hampered by sociocultural, legal and other factors. Even in developed countries, where rates of deceased organ donation tend to be higher than in other countries, organs from this source fail to meet the increasing demand. The use of live donors for kidney and liver transplantation is also practised, but the purchase and sale of transplant organs from live donors are prohibited in many countries.” [Cherry MJ. Kidney for sale by owner: human organs, transplantation, and the market. Washington: Georgetown University Press]

The World Health Organization echoes the findings of the Christian Science Monitor that “most of the recipients came from Israel, while the donors were from eastern Europe and Brazil. The police investigation in Brazil and South Africa revealed the existence of an international organ trafficking syndicate.” [McLaughlin A, Prusher IR, Downie A. What is a kidney worth? Christian Science Monitor. 2004 Jun 9.

Israeli brokers told Scheper-Hughes “it’s kind of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. We’re going to get every single kidney and liver and heart that we can. The world owes it to us.”

Scheper-Hughes attests that “Israel is at the top. It has tentacles reaching out worldwide….Organ traffickers prey on the world’s poorest, most desperate citizens—slum dwellers, inhabitants of dying villages, people without means or hope. Traffickers promise them what seem like astronomical sums of money (from $1,000 to $10,000)—which they frequently don’t even deliver—in return for vital internal organs.”

The syndicate may be global but many of the organs harvested by Israeli brokers were/are from the corpses of the Palestinians they have murdered right there in Palestine.

Advocates for Peace and Social Justice condemns the practice of organ harvesting. It is one of the greatest crimes on humanity. A gross assault on the human rights of its victims globally. Exploiting the desperate poverty of the poor around the world by extracting organs by promising financial gain, use of coercion, deception, kidnapping and murder of the donor is heinous and reprehensible.

Advocates for Peace and Social Justice calls upon the citizens of the world to denounce Israel, and its helpers, by insisting that the international community levy sanctions on Israel which will dismantle its criminal syndicate of harvesting organs.